Murdered DPP 'not involved in 1MDB probe'

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali has denied that Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Morais, who was killed in a gruesome case, was involved in investigating the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

His remarks were in response to a statutory declaration made by Mr Morais' younger brother, Charles Suresh Morais, that his brother had sent him a pen drive containing information which implicates influential Malaysians in the 1MDB case, where billions of dollars were alleged to have been siphoned out.

"Kevin was never involved in the 1MDB investigations," Tan Sri Apandi said in a text message from Nanning, China, where he is visiting. "In fact, when he was transferred back to the Attorney-General's Chambers in early July 2014, there was no report in respect of 1MDB yet!"

The Attorney-General had on Sept 7 issued a statement to say that Mr Kevin Morais, 55, was not involved in the 1MDB probe.

The investigations are closely watched as the debt-laden state investment firm has Prime Minister Najib Razak as head of its advisory board.

Mr Morais went missing on Sept 4 after leaving his Kuala Lumpur residence for work in Putrajaya. His body was found in a cemented oil drum on Sept 16, dumped into a swamp in Subang Jaya. One of the suspects arrested led police to the Selangor swamp. Eight men, including an army doctor, were charged in September over the killing.

Mr Charles Suresh Morais, 51, claimed his elder brother sent him a pen drive a month before his disappearance, for safekeeping. He said his brother had told him it contained important information.

But Mr Apandi yesterday said the claims by the younger Morais were preposterous. "I need to state that when the brother starts insinuating that the current accused persons are not linked to Kevin's murder, he is seen as interfering with the pending trial, and so are his unfounded allegations on the post-mortem of his late brother Kevin," said Mr Apandi.

There is a feud involving the prosecutor's remains after another brother, Richard, 49, claimed the body on the same day that Mr Charles Suresh Morais filed a court application this month for a second autopsy.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 27, 2015, with the headline 'Murdered DPP 'not involved in 1MDB probe''. Print Edition | Subscribe

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